Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Within the tower crane business, the 1950s featured many significant milestones in tower crane design and development. There were a variety of manufacturers were starting to make more bottom slewing cranes which had telescoping mast. These machinery dominated the construction industry for both office and apartment block construction. Many of the top tower crane manufacturers discarded the use of cantilever jib designs. Instead, they made the switch to luffing jibs and eventually, the use of luffing jibs became the regular method.
Manufacturers based in Europe were also heavily influential in the development and design of tower cranes. Construction locations on the continent were normally constricted places. Depending upon rail systems to transport several tower cranes, became very costly and difficult. A number of manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These cranes were equipped with self-climbing mechanisms which enabled parts of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it can grow along with the structures it was building upwards.
The long jibs on these particular cranes additionally covered a bigger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes inside the lift shaft of a building. After that, this is the method which became the industry standard.
The main focus on tower crane development and design from the 1960s started on covering a higher load moment, covering a larger job radius, climbing mechanisms and technology, faster erection strategies, and new control systems. In addition, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most essential developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.